Dept. of Political Science and Public Administration - Ph.D. / Sc.D.

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https://hdl.handle.net/11693/13920

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Open Access
A process-oriented approach towards democratic backsliding: evidence from Hungary and Turkey
(Bilkent University, 2023-07) Işık Canpolat, Ece Adviye
This thesis explores different factors affecting the democratic backsliding process in today's world, where a cult of personality is established by using populism as the essential tool for achieving their goals. Considering the importance of weakening the checks and balances system, it also sheds light on other factors as the structure of the internal party organization, personalization of politics, and the political culture. Conducting a comparative case study analysis on Turkey and Hungary, this research aims to take a step forward in the democratic backsliding literature. Taking one step forward from the argument that democratic backsliding takes place when the checks and balances system abolishes, the research asks, "what happens after supposing that such governments do not fit the doctrine of separation of powers?" Through examining Turkey and Hungary as examples of hybrid regimes taking steps toward democratic backsliding day by day under AKP’s and Fidesz’s rule, the research seeks an answer to the question of "after diminishing the checks and balances system, what takes place and affects the democratic backsliding process in such examples?"
Open Access
The alla franca dandies: modern individuality in the late 19th century Ottoman novels
(Bilkent University, 2018-09) Mühürcüoğlu, Korhan
The thesis studies the Hamidian regime (1876-1909) of the Ottoman Empire with regard to the relations between Ottoman modernization, Westernization and the proto-individualism that was then taking roots without the concomitant development of capitalism and in the absence of bourgeoisie. To investigate these relations, the thesis concentrates upon the alla franca dandy literary figure; a francophile who adores European culture and feels aversion towards the Ottoman/Islamic culture. The alla franca dandy owes his existence to Ahmet Mithat’s Felatun Bey and Rakım Efendi (1876) published as a critique of “false Westernization” and an attempt at circumscribing the limits of proper modernization, balancing the Ottoman/Islamic culture and Western material progress. He was thus born out of the Ottoman intellectuals’ ideas of and anxiety over Westernization, who sought to modernize the society without subverting the traditional foundations. As the Ottoman/Islamic and Western cultures collided, the alla franca dandy became the embodiment of “false Westernization” and served the intellectuals’ objective to educate the masses by setting a bad example. However, though the alla franca dandy was born to circumscribe the proper limits of modernization, he ironically evolved, through the novels of authors like Ekrem and Gürpınar), to express individualistic attitudes and put forth a modernist critique of the Ottoman/Islamic tradition as the intellectuals’ epistemological assumptions eroded and the society’s present is questioned and problematized as in need of intervention. Through an analysis of the alla franca dandy’s development, the thesis tries to bring forth Ottoman modernity’s unique nature and individualism’s role in it.
Open Access
Analysis of everyday xenophobia: the case of highly educated Turks with immigrant background in Austria and Germany
(Bilkent University, 2022-11) Tulun, Teoman Ertuğrul
Xenophobia and racism are contested. They are distinct but overlapping. This study analyses the relationship and interaction between these two concepts and seeks to unpack the true nature of contemporary xenophobia in Western Europe. It attempts to answer two key questions: 1) What constitutes the conceptual bases for these terms? 2) How do people report on their experiences on these concepts? In addressing these questions, the study deconstructs and analyzes the multi-dimensional concept of xenophobia to arrive at a meaningful operational definition; explicates its overlooked normative framework constitutively shaped in the United Nations; investigates the rising effects of immigration phenomenon, violent acts against immigrant groups, and the political discourse on the level of xenophobia; focuses on the related developments in Germany and Austria by narrating the events relevant to explain the rising xenophobia in these countries; and refers to reliable secondary data regarding xenophobic and racist perceptions, behaviors, and incidents gathered through research conducted under the supervision of international organizations and reports submitted by member states to such organizations. The study also seeks answers to these questions through an analysis of interview data conducted with highly educated Turks with immigrant background in Germany and Austria, which is characterized as the group least likely to experience xenophobia and racism. Research findings reveal that the interviewees experience both xenophobia and racism. The interviewees mostly regard racism and xenophobia as identical and declare that they are exposed to verbal violence.
Open Access
An analysis on the contribution of civil society to democratic consolidation in Turkey
(Bilkent University, 2007) Torus, Emre
This is an analysis on the contribution of civil society to democratic consolidation in Turkey. This thesis will try to understand this problematic by assessing the civil society’s formal structure, legal framework, internal values and its impact during the consolidation process. The key aim here is to understand the civil society’s role as a contributor to democratic consolidation by mapping the civil society and democratic consolidation relationship in Turkey. While doing so, this study will base itself on a combination of theories that link the civil society to democratic consolidation with an empirical tool for the assessment of this linkage.
Open Access
Articulating socialism with nationalism : a critical analysis of nationalism in the Turkish leftist tradition in the 1960s
(Bilkent University, 2010) Doğan, Erkan
In this dissertation, it is argued that nationalism was one of the most important characteristics of the socialist movement in Turkey in the 1960s. When we look at the socialist movement in Turkey in this period, we encounter with the concept of nationalism, in other words, Turkish socialists’ deliberate attempt at articulating socialism with nationalism, presenting themselves as the real representatives of nationalism in Turkey. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the uneasy relationship between nationalism and the Turkish left in the 1960s in particular and between socialism and nationalism in general. The main issue of this study is to explore why and how the Turkish left of the sixties incorporated nationalism into its political discourses, strategies, and programs. One important concern of this study is to investigate the internal sources of the articulation of socialism with nationalism in Turkey. A ‘leftist’ variant of Kemalism, becoming a hegemonic discourse within the ranks of the Turkish left in the 1960s, played a very crucial role in the attempts of the leftist intellectuals of the period at accommodating nationalist principles within the idiom of socialism. Turkish left in the 1960s re-invented Kemalism as a progressive, anti-imperialist, anti-feudal and developmentalist outlook. This study, in this sense, argues that Kemalism (together with nationalism) as the founding ideology of the Republican regime has not just only been the basis of the mainstream political parties and movements, but can also be found, in certain forms and amounts, among the ranks of the different factions of socialist movement in Turkey. The sources of Turkish socialists’ engagement with nationalism cannot be fully grasped merely by reference to the Turkish context. Rather, it should be located within an international context and perspective. Turkish socialists were not alone in their efforts to reconcile nationalism with socialism. The history of the ideological and practical accommodation between socialism and nationalism from mid-19th century to the post-colonial era reflects a change from “socialization of the nation” to the “nationalization of socialism” and shows us how this relationship changed from hostility to affinity. Turkish socialists of the 1960s received an important part of their strategic and tactical inspirations from those international experiences. But, their main sources of inspiration were Stalinism and the Third Worldism of the post-colonial period. In this sense, this study analyzes Turkish left’s experience with nationalism also by reference to international experiences, with a special emphasis on the Third Worldist variant of the articulation of socialism with nationalism. The main primary sources of this study are the journals, papers, books, pamphlets, programs, regulations, congress reports and resolutions, election manifestos and other published documents, generated during the political activities of the main factions of the socialist movement in Turkey in the 1960s. These primary sources are evaluated within the general literature on nationalism, its Marxist interpretations, Third Worldism, economic nationalism, develomentalism, imperialism, dependency, and the concepts of imitation and uniqueness.
Open Access
Beyond the culturalization of the headscarf : women with headscarves in retail jobs in 2000s Turkey
(Bilkent University, 2014) Cengiz, Feyda Sayan
This dissertation studies the roles and meanings of the headscarf in the lives of lower middle class, non-university educated women working in private sector retail jobs. The study critically discusses the extent to which the dominant framework of politics of cultural difference, identity and a focus on Islamic/ secular divide in society in Turkey accounts for the connotations of the headscarf in low status and insecure private sector employment. The study problematizes the overemphasis on issues of cultural difference and identity in post-1990 studies on women, Islam and headscarves in Turkey and suggests an analytical framework that accounts for social inequalities rather than cultural difference. Secondly, it problematizes the reification of Islamic group identity in previous literature, and complicates the dichotomous categorization of ‘secular’ and ‘Islamic’ identities as two ‘oppositional’ sources of belonging. The study relies on in-depth interviews and focus groups conducted with saleswomen, as well as participant observation in five cities in Turkey: İstanbul, Ankara, Denizli, Gaziantep and Kayseri. The findings are twofold: (1) In the retail sales job market, women with headscarves are constructed as a labor force more inclined to settle for insecure, dead-end, low-paid jobs. The discriminatory employment policies that disadvantage women with headscarves are embedded in the problems of workplace democracy, and problems of unqualified, insecure women’s labor; (2) Lower middle class, nonuniversity educated women with headscarves formulate the practice of wearing the headscarf as a continuously negotiated practice, with meanings contingent upon class and status cleavages, instead of formulating it as a matter of deep religiosity, identity and cultural difference.
Open Access
Celal Bayar and political leadership, 1937-1960
(Bilkent University, 2013) Yiğit, Ahu
This dissertation sets its objective as studying Celal Bayar‟s leadership from 1937 to 1960 in order to present the portrait of Bayar as a political leader. The interactive approach is employed to structure this analysis. In line with this approach, external and internal resources of Bayar‟s leadership are defined. External resources are considered with regard to institutional and non-institutional aspects. The non-institutional resources referred to are the main characteristics of economy, of international relations and of political regime in 1937-1960. Institutional aspect of Bayar‟s leadership in 1937-1960 is studied with regard to executive offices he held. With regard to the internal resources of leadership, the effects of certain life experiences on Bayar‟s politics and his understanding of major political concepts such as democracy and secularism are discussed. Primary and secondary resources, as well as interviews with his close circle provide the material for this study. In the conclusion part, the impact of certain internal resources on his leadership, such as his commitment to the main principles of the Republican regime is acknowledged but it is pointed out that external resources, such as Atatürk‟s trust in him, had a greater impact on his leadership. It is also observed that the portrait of Bayar as a political leader falls in a category in between a state elite and a political elite. Regarding the interactive approach, it is concluded that under non-institutionalized regimes, the institutional offices lose their defining characteristics on leadership and that other resources such as the leader‟s relations with other leaders and his/her interpretation of political office gains extra emphasis.
Open Access
The citizen of the state and the state of the citizen : an analysis of the citizenization process in Turkey
(Bilkent University, 2000) Soyarık, Nalan
This study deals with the construction and evolution of Turkish citizenship throughout the history of the Turkish Republic. How citizenship was defined, and which model was adopted for Turkish citizenship are the major questions. The state is taken as the major constructive actor as the modernization and citizenization process was from above in the Turkish case. Therefore, the legal documents, parliamentary debates, and studies of the prominent intellectuals on citizenship are analyzed. As the nation building and citizenization process went hand in hand in Turkey, those laws related with the construction of a Turkish national identity are also utilized. By taking the social and political developments into account as a background, the changes and shifts in the understanding of Turkish citizenship are traced. The problems Turkish citizenship encounters today has its roots in the early Republican period, where Turkish citizenship was developed from above and in a republican understanding that emphasized duties towards the state. Today there is a clash between aspirations for a more liberal understanding of citizenship and the republican citizens. In the core of the problems faced today, lies the reluctance of the state to view Turkish citizenship as a notion distinct from the quest for Kemalist modernization and official Turkish national identity.
Open Access
Citizenship, minorities and immigrants : a comparison of Turkey's Jewish minority and Turkish-Jewish immigrants in Israel
(Bilkent University, 2004) Toktaş, Şule
This study investigated the legal status, identity and civic virtue aspects of citizenship and the interaction between them on the layers of international migration and minority issues with use of a comparative case. A research on the perceptions and experiences of Turkey’s Jewish minority and Turkish-Jewish immigrants in Israel regarding citizenship was conducted. The field research which was carried out in both countries - Turkey and Israel - consisted of key informant interviews, participant observation in commimity institutions and in- depth interviews with a total of 65 respondents from the sample group. The results were analyzed using qualitative data analysis technique. On the layer of minority, research results illustrated that in a society where the population is overwhelmingly Muslim, being a non-Muslim minority played roles in: a) the appropriation of the monist and universal conceptualization of citizenship in the legal status aspect; b) the endeavor to maintain Jewish identity despite the inevitable consequences of integration and assimilation in the identity aspect; and c) the discrepancy between values and actions in the civic virtue aspect. On the layer of international migration, the research pointed out that despite long years of residence in Israel, first generation of Turkish-Jewish immigrants in Israel preseryed their political culture that they cultivated when they were in Turkey. However, experience of international migration as a process seemed to impact on citizenship and played roles in; a) the appropriation of democratic norms defined by majoritarian terms in the legal status aspect; b) efforts to maintain their Turkish identity in the identity aspect; and c) the preference for complying with the general norms of Jewish-Israeli society and conversely excluding a proactive understanding of virtuous citizenship.
Open Access
Civilizing process from above: culture and state in Turkey, 1923-1945
(Bilkent University, 2000) Çolak, Yılmaz
This dissertation deals with the formation of the official notion of culture during the early Republican era (1923-1945) from a historico-political perspective. This formation reflected the civilizing process from above, directed and determined by the state. The dissertation will analyze the legal and institutional bases of the discursive formation of culture by focusing on the cultural institutions of the Republic, especially the THS and the TLS. Here, the concept of culture will be examined as inherent to the state and its project, promoting the construction of an identity. The dissertation will discuss that culture in the state discourse, overlapping all expressed through civilization, denoted the modern state of mind and way of life as a high, developed category and so came to be the name of re-ordering and re-cultivating the society, taming the people and creating future-generations. Based on a hierarchical and assimilationist understanding, it was the sole means to determine the scope of the public sphere and membership to both political and cultural community. In this sense, it is inclusionary and, at the same time, exclusionary. The Kemalist notion of culture as construction has become more and more a politically contested issue, which has put its stamp on Turkish political life.
Open Access
The Closure of the political as a problem of democracy : a critique on democratic thought in Turkey
(Bilkent University, 2009) Tombuş, H. Ertuğ
This thesis examines the analysis of Turkish politics in the works of three key social scientists in Turkey: Niyazi Berkes, #erif Mardin and Metin Heper. Berkes’s account on the development of secularism in Turkey, Mardin’s center-periphery model and Heper’s strong state tradition argument and his idea of rational democracy are the subjects of the critical evaluation in this study. The main question of this thesis is whether the perspective they develop in their analysis can provide a critical democratic vision, which locates the political at its center. My project is to evaluate these three accounts from a radical democratic theory based on the ideas of Bonnie Honig and Jacques Rancière. By drawing on the writings of Honig and Rancière, I aim to elucidate the meaning of democracy and the political in order to frame my theoretical and conceptual position. Additionally, from this theoretical perspective I define the meaning of the closure of the political and argue that it is the fundamental problem of democracy. My analysis focuses on the conceptions of politics and the binary oppositions in Berkes, Mardin and Heper. My argument is that their accounts consist of limitations in registering different instances of the closure of the political as a problem of democracy. Furthermore, they displace politics with their conceptions of politics and dichotomous thinking.
Open Access
Columnists as idea entrepreneurs in Turkey, 1983-2007 : conceptions of the state
(Bilkent University, 2016-09) Kılıç Aslan, Ayşenur
The omnipotence of the state has been a dominant theme of discussions in Turkey for a long time. Though they have been a major party to these discussions due the fact that it was newspapers and periodicals that filled the large crevice left by the late development and dissemination of scholarly books in Turkey, columnists have been sorely understudied. In an attempt to help fill this void, this study discusses ten eminent Turkish columnists’ conceptions of the state over a time period stretching from 1983 to 2007. Assuming columnists as ‘idea entrepreneurs’, who, create a sphere of influence with their ideas, and use this sphere to further create new ideas or transform existing ones thanks to networks provided by this sphere, this dissertation brings together three seemingly separate literatures on media, state and entrepreneurship. Data acquired from analysis of considerable number of columns and semi-structured elite interviews has been processed by using qualitative content analysis and archival document analysis. The data has been coded in reference to five themes: national security and survival of the state, order and stability, economy, the shrinking state, and the rule of law. This study contributes to the literature by bringing to the fore the following results: notwithstanding intensified emphasis on liberalizing state-society relations in that time period, it first shows that the statecentered ideas set the language of politics; the press deems itself as part of this statecentered language; considerable amount of columns still teetered between transcendentalism and instrumentalism in terms of their state perceptions
Embargo
Constructing morality for Turkey : the moral campaign of the 1980s as a novel technique of governing
(Bilkent University, 2010) Keçeli, Öncü
Political history of Turkey of the 1980s usually narrates the institutional reorganization of state structure and legislative changes introduced by the military regime established after the September 12, 1980 coup d’état and demilitarization efforts of the following civilian governments. However, the military regime did not simply apply institutional changes; one of its aims was to infiltrate society at every level, through “conduct of conduct.” Everyday life was targeted and governed by both the military regime, following civilian governments and non-state actors in the 1980s in order to restructure socio-political space and establish hegemony of a life style by setting new standards of normalcy. Morality, as a constitutive element of everyday life, had a peculiar place in efforts to reconstruct the distinction between the normal and the abnormal, since it was believed that decay of moral values was among the primary reasons of social collapse in the pre-coup period. This study, hence, analyzes the moral campaign of the 1980s, as a hegemonic project which problematized the conduct and values of others and attempted to dominate everyday practices. The dissertation studies the Intellectuals’ Hearth and a peculiar reading of history and society, the Turkish Islamic Synthesis, as the intellectual background of the moral campaign and as an exemplary discourse of moralist thinking. It later focuses on three of everyday domains that were targeted in the 1980s to institute the proper life style for the society and the individual: education of morality, politics of non – heterosexuality and censorship of obscenity. This study, then, rewrites the history of Turkey of the 1980s, as a story of efforts to develop new standards of moral norms in everyday life.
Open Access
Continuity and change in the ideology of the Nationalist Action Party (MHP), 1965-2015: from Alparslan Türkeş to Devlet Bahçeli
(Bilkent University, 2020-10) Opçin Kıdal, Arzu
This Ph.D. dissertation offers an in-depth, systematic study of the continuities and discontinuities from 1965 to 2015 between the nationalist ideas and practices of Alparslan Türkeş (the founder and first leader of Turkey’s Nationalist Action Party [Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP]) and Devlet Bahçeli (the second and current leader). To this end, this study focuses on (i) general theories of nationalism; (ii) the historical development of Turkish nationalism from the late Ottoman Empire until 2015; and (iii) whether there are discernable differences between the nationalist ideas and practices of Türkeş and Bahçeli, and, if so, how and why such differences emerged. There appears to be no far-reaching comparative analysis of the nationalist ideas and practices of these two leaders in the academic literature, so this dissertation, using a comparative and historical methodology, provides the first systematic analysis of this topic within the relevant structural context. The dissertation argues that while the two leaders’ nationalist ideas and practices show continuity in terms of the party’s foundational claims, their ideologies have evolved as each leader has varied his emphasis on the ethnic, cultural, and civic components of Turkish nationalism. These changes parallel the party’s tactical needs in response to the perceived threats arising from specific historical contexts. The findings of this Ph.D. dissertation contribute evidence that theories and arguments based on types of nationalism have little empirical traction, at least in the Turkish case.
Open Access
The Crisis of representation in Southern Europe : Gezi Park protests and 15m movement in comparative perspective
(Bilkent University, 2015) Geyikçi, Şebnem Yardımcı
By analysing two different cases of popular movements in Turkey (the Gezi Park protests) and Spain (the 15M movement) that received extensive support from different segments of society in both countries, this research aims at accounting for the question of what factors brought about popular disaffection and led to mass mobilisations under different circumstances. The contention is that one of the central factors behind these mass protests has been “the crisis of representation” resulting not only from the lack of voterparty congruence, but also from the failure of political parties to meet the demands of responsiveness and responsibility – the core requisite of the party government model.
Open Access
Critical moments of social spatialization in the neighborhood : an alternative reading of the mainstream gecekondu history
(Bilkent University, 2007) Demirtaş, Neslihan
This thesis aims to expose an alternative local historical reading of the formation of a gecekondu space as a response to modernist consideration of gecekondu development in Turkey. The social construction of neighborhood space, which occurs at the level of social imaginary and representations as well as at the level of real interventions in the form of social practices producing a built environment, is narrated by means of insider perspectives and using qualitative techniques. In this reading, it will be made explicit that the dynamics and patterns by which the modernist, strategic interventions in local space and tactical acts of the migrants in producing their locality are closely interconnected. This interconnectedness not only sheds light to the weaknesses of the strategical practice of imposing a modernist space but also the tactical acts of migrants utilizing the loopholes in the strategical realm. Spontaneity as the defining and intrinsic quality of gecekondu settlements is mainly embedded in the diverse local agencies that lead to spatial contingencies. The ethnic identities constitute the main means by which the migrants employ certain tactics with regard to strategical policy acts and to other groups in the neighborhood. Within the context of the intertwined nature of tactic and strategy, gecekondu settlements will be discussed as a by-product of the sum of modernist strategical acts more than as unintended consequences of urban development.
Open Access
Critique of violence : a study of the relation between politics and violence in some modern political theories
(Bilkent University, 2012) Altunok, Gülbanu
This thesis aims at understanding the relationship between violence and politics in twentieth century political thought. To this end, the study looks at the works of selected thinkers and suggests a threefold categorization of existing approaches: a ‘non-problematization of the relationship between violence and politics’ exemplified in the liberal-democratic paradigm, a ‘nonproblematization of violence in politics’ in some critiques of liberal thought and the position of ambivalence, which suggests a historical relationship between violence and politics. The thesis moves to a further analysis of Hannah Arendt and Michel Foucault, whose works are considered as representing the third position and discuss their analysis of the relationship between violence and politics with a focus on power and revolution.
Open Access
Deliberating in difficult times: lessons from public forums in Turkey
(Bilkent University, 2018-09) Arabacı, Çisem Gündüz
This dissertation examines how under semi-authoritarian political contexts and fragmented social structure public deliberation function, by in-depth analysis of three Public Park Forums in İzmir which were created during 2013 Gezi Protests. This study demonstrates that even though the effects of these public forums in decision-making process are limited; they can still foster deliberative culture in society. This culture paves the way for strong interaction between civil society organizations and a more civic public. This dissertation also finds that, there is a reciprocal relationship between contextual dynamics in which these public forums operate and forums internal deliberative features; thus both sides take position and re-position according to other side. This study argues that, deliberative prospects of such public forums under nondeliberative settings are relatively modest, nevertheless, they can be research areas for further studies in terms of analyzing their role in enhancing social capital, deliberative culture and civicness.
Open Access
The democrat as a social type : the case of Turkey in the 1990s
(Bilkent University, 2011) Akdeniz, Eylem
The main purpose of this dissertation is the explanation of the emergence of a new social type of political opinion producers in Turkey, namely, "the Democrat", throughout the two decades following the 1980 military coup. The common characteristics that constitute the Democrat is investigated utilizing the "social type analysis" approach. Within that methodological framework, the following analytical steps are followed: (1) First, in order to identify the components of the social type, a socio-historical analysis the political history of Turkey between 1980-1999 is completed, with three focal points: The September 12, 1980 coup (with specific emphasis on neo-liberal restructuring of Turkish state and Özalism); re-emergence of the Kurdish Question; and the revival of the Islamic movement. (2) Secondly, collected qualitative data, through in-depth interviews with three representative figures of the Democrat (Ali Bayramoğlu, Etyen Mahçupyan, KürĢat Bumin) is analyzed in order to lay out the profile of the social type. (3) Lastly, the constitutive components of Democrat as a social type are brought together, in relation to the qualitative data and the socio-historical analysis.
Open Access
Democratic Party and democracy in Turkey : with special reference to Celal Bayar and Adnan Menderes
(Bilkent University, 2011) Sütçü, Güliz
This study aims to analyze the conceptualization of democracy by Celal Bayar and Adnan Menderes. Given the basic assumption of this dissertation, which is that ‘political agency’ is the decisive factor for the democratization path of a country, it is particularly concerned with Bayar’s and Menderes’ conceptualization of democracy. Since they were the main figures of Turkish politics between the year 1945, when the transition decision to democracy was made, and the year 1960, when the Democratic Party government was overthrown by the Turkish military, it is important to examine the understanding of democracy that shaped their political actions and decisions in order to understand the extent to which they contributed to Turkish democracy. Taking the agency approach as its theoretical background, this dissertation analyzes their political discourse and praxis based on the distinction between minimalist and maximalist democracy. While the minimalist dimension emphasizes the vertical accountability dimension of democracies and finds the presence of the electoral dimension of political regimes sufficient to define a regime as democratic, the maximalist dimension additionally considers the horizontal accountability dimension and takes the political opposition aspect as interdependent with vertical accountability, and thus as an indispensable aspect of democracies. This analysis is made using the minutes of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and group meetings of the Democratic Party, selected newspapers and periodicals of the period, speeches and articles of Bayar and Menderes, and the biographies written by their friends or journalists. In addition to the data gathered through these written sources, data collected through interviews with people that witnessed the period is also used. All data is categorized under these two main dimensions of democracy and analyzed according to the extent to which these two dimensions of democracy can be considered crucial for these two political leaders’ understanding of democracy. The analysis of the political discourse and praxis of Bayar and Menderes indicates that Bayar and Menderes accepted both vertical and horizontal dimensions of democracy. However, they did not see them as interdependent and they attached priority to the vertical accountability dimension. Thus, as they disregarded the horizontal accountability dimension, it is found that democracy came under threat and finally collapsed.